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Greenbrier Division of the C&O

Railroads Section 5 of 15

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The Greenbrier Division was a branch of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway that ran through Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties. Built between 1899 and 1905, it mainly hauled timber, not coal. It connected towns like Cass, Durbin, and Winterburn and supported sawmills, tanneries, and farms.

In the 1920s, it became a busy freight route, but business dropped during the Great Depression. World War II brought a short boost in use, but after the war, rail traffic declined again. Passenger service ended in 1958, and the line was shut down in 1978.

Part of the old railroad is now the Greenbrier River Trail, and the section between Cass and Durbin reopened in 2023 for tourist train rides.